


Believe in a Smiling God

by Starlithorizon



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Canon-Typical Horror, Desert Bluffs, Horror, Psychological Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-04
Updated: 2013-10-04
Packaged: 2017-12-28 08:39:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/989992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starlithorizon/pseuds/Starlithorizon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His eyes, his <em>eyes</em>. They were so <em>wrong</em>. He was like a creature from the deepest pits of...of somewhere nice. Surely somewhere absolutely wonderful.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Believe in a Smiling God

**Author's Note:**

> So I did a creepy thing with Kevin. Like, to the point where I honestly kind of creeped myself out, at least a little. Kevin's Strex-mandated uppers don't work nearly well enough.

He knew. Oh, he knew. Somewhere, in the deep dark blackness lurking in his head, he saw this world as it truly was. It was a dark thing, black and stinking and covered in blood. He sometimes saw things in the mirror as he got ready for work in the morning, and then—

Kevin had a neat and tidy system for every day, from the way he threw his covers aside when he woke, to the way he knotted to his tie, to the way he bit the heads off the mice that skittered past. There was habit and ritual in the coppery hot burst of blood across his tongue and dripping warm rivulets down his chin. It was warm like the sunlight that helped this beautiful town to grow and thrive. Desert Bluffs was like a lovely garden, rising up, up, up to greet the eager sun as he grinned down in the sky. The sun looked down upon them like the most benevolent of gods.

The heels of his shoes clicked neatly against the sidewalk as he walked. The sun pulsed like a living thing against his skin, and he tilted his face up to catch the light. Life was beautiful. Desert Bluffs was beautiful. Everything was beautiful. There was nothing else.

There was nothing.

He blinked, and he saw everything for what it was. Tendons and skin and intestines were draped over telephone wires, and there was blood _everywhere_. The creatures all showed their teeth. _Smiling_ , it was called. They _smiled_. Their mouths, slit from ear to ear, stretched gruesomely, opening wide, teeth gleaming red and white in the grimy light and—

Kevin rose a hand to wave at his neighbors as he passed. They all smiled so cheerfully as they walked on. Children played hop-scotch on the sidewalk, shrieking, screaming, _howling_ with giddy joy. Oh, to be young. Those were fond days for Kevin. Well, he assumed they were. He...he couldn't remember any. But it was fine! That just meant he had more space for new memories! New glimmers of fond light, shining like fluorescent, antiseptic bulbs in the sticky pitch blackness surrounding him, slinking to his skin stretched so taught over his bones, pulled viciously apart. His face was like theirs, creaking and terrible and God, he was a _monster_. He saw his face in the mornings, and he knew that he was an abomination, that _he should not have been_. His eyes, his _eyes_. They were so _wrong_. He was like a creature from the deepest pits of...of somewhere nice. Surely somewhere absolutely wonderful.

The blood painted over the door handle to the station was cool and wet against his palm, and he felt the redness seep into the cracks of his skin. It was rather like rain melting into the cracked desert floor, life-giving and beautiful. It was so much like their beautiful desert, really. The desert was everything.

"Afternoon, Vanessa!" he called cheerfully as he passed his intern. She was leaning against the wall, dark eyes swirling and lips pursed. Her hands and clothes were stained red, so he knew that the booth was ready when he was. That was always quite nice. Vanessa was an _excellent_ intern, who really made the best tea in Desert Bluffs. Tea was so important, really. Everyone had several boxes in their cupboards, whether they went out and bought it or not. There was only one blend, and it was light and citrusy, always with a thin shining layer like an oil slick. It was mandatory to have at least three cups a day. The more, the better, of course. It made taking the pills especially easy.

"You have five minutes," she said, unpursing her lips just enough to shine a quick smile his way. She was never quite as cheerful as everyone else, which was a bit peculiar, but she always drank her tea and took her pills. Everyone took their pills. They were an important part of daily life for Desert Bluffs, cool and smooth on the tongue and in the throat. He knew that they didn't work as well for him as they did the others, but that was hardly the fault of StrexCorp Synernists Incorporated™. No, it was all his fault. He was _wicked_. He saw the demon in the mirror and it would take more than mind-altering medication to make him blind to his nature, to the way his neck stretched too long, to how his fingers had extra joints, to how the thing pumping sickly blood through the network of his veins was not a _heart_. He was a wretched being, a tumor, a blight. This whole town was. It was a black toxin dripping across this desert, tarry and grasping. It was StrexCorp™. It. Was. Everything.

He bustled into the booth, caught between horror and pleasure as he saw the room strewn with violence. Clumps of hair, some attached to their scalps. Teeth, scattered across the table, so jovially, so horrifically. He took a seat, checked over the equipment, and got his notes together. Vanessa buzzed around the room, turning dials and flipping switches and laying entrails over the soundboard.

"Your smile's slipping," Vanessa said, sliding into her own seat and studying him closely. Kevin wanted to point out that _she_ almost _never_ smiled, but that would be petty, and no one in Desert Bluffs was anything other than happy. Plus, she was young. Her dose was much lower than his. Too many chemicals in a young body would make them weak and unproductive.

He separated his lips, used what was left of his facial muscles to pull back the corners of his mouth, and widened his eyes, casting the biggest grin her way that he could physically manage. Vanessa flashed a small smile and a thumbs-up.

The light changed, flaring green over blood and guts and sinew like the sun shining bright over the StrexCorp™ distribution center.

"Somewhere, out where we can't imagine, there is a smiling God. It's best if you don't look for Him. Welcome to Desert Bluffs!"

Kevin chatted to the mic and his beloved, horrible, horrifying, wretched, wretched wretch— _lovely_ town like they were old friends. He was aware that it was part of his draw, and part of the reason he'd been hired in the first place. No one loved Desert Bluffs quite like he did, openly and brightly and from a trembling distance. Of course, no one loved the town more than StrexCorp™, but that was obvious.

He knew his voice lulled the town to peace, though it did not do the same for him. Sometimes thoughts, weak and tired, crawled across his synapses, begging for sleep. He thought rarely, though of many things. Sometimes, he thought about leaving Desert Bluffs. But he knew what he was. He would not be welcomed anywhere else. No, he was a vile creature, a wretch, a _monster_. He was wrong and Desert Bluffs was right. It was beautiful and perfect, and nowhere else could possibly be nearly as wonderful. Better not to risk it, really.

He rattled off words and announcements and news and StrexCorp™ advertisements, still funneling friendship and happiness through wires and speakers. Kevin knew well enough that everyone in town was listening to him right now, and he could only wish them wonderful days and remind them to take their medication. Not that they needed reminders, really. The pills were as much a part of daily life as breakfast and devouring those that weren't monsters. They were frequently chastised for not leaving enough subjects for the StrexCorp™ research and development department, but always with an edge of fondness, like a parent or a smiling God.

"Until next time, Desert Bluffs," Kevin was finally able to sigh into the mic, curling in closer. "Until next time."

He and Vanessa turned everything off and left the booth ready for the next show, bidding each other goodbyes and heading to their respective homes.

As Kevin readied himself for bed that night, catching the briefest glimpse of horror in the mirror, he reeled and lurched through his routine. Night was always a dangerous time, leaching in and undoing the work of the sun and the medicine and making them sick and wrong and _bad_.

He tucked himself into bed, turned out the light, and closed his eyes. The words washed over him like they did every night, and he was dimly aware that he was the one murmuring them, but it always rang with the screeching chorus of an entire town whispering the same words before they let sleep take them for the night.

"Look around you. Strex. Look inside you. Strex. Go to sleep. Strex. Believe in a smiling God. StrexCorp.™ It. Is. Everything."

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to stop by my [tumblr](http://litbythestars.tumblr.com/) if you're down for some aggressive fangirling, and/or talk about stupid faces that I really enjoy.


End file.
